Various types of digital devices including communication devices require activation using a dedicated server for the subject device to become operational. Wireless devices figure prominently among the devices requiring various forms of activation using computer server equipment.
The emerging device market is expected to grow significantly in near future. As wireless market penetration increases across the world, the availability of new devices provides the opportunity for all markets to grow at more accelerated rates. For emerging markets, this will help drive even faster adoption of wireless services as entire lines of new wireless-communication enabled devices, from laptops to cameras, become available. For more mature markets, defined as those markets that will reach 100% wireless-voice-service saturation by about 2015, the emerging devices market is expected to experience continued strong growth.
Smart phones and mobile navigation industry devices are among the devices experiencing rapid growth. Growth in sales of smart phones as well as the emergence of vendor-driven application stores and marketplaces, are changing the dynamics of the mobile communication industry. In the navigation space, the integration of GPS into smart phones has accelerated. As more and more consumer (mass market) electronic devices are developed, they will become more mobile, and the transmission and receipt of information will become prominent features for the marketing of such devices.
Some emerging product features include cameras with SIM cards, and the ability to download electronic books vie e-Book readers. Even household appliances, like refrigerators and hot water heaters, are becoming wireless-enabled. The communication industry is experiencing a period of major advances in device and user interface design, which will lead to rapid changes in mobile user behavior and the services consumers demand when on the move resulting in an increased need for automated activation applications.
The product growth discussed above will drive significant device activation request volume in the coming years. Initially, notebook computers with wireless cards and Smart phones are likely to dominate among new wireless devices. However, later on, the adoption of more advanced consumer electronic wireless devices with embedded connectivity, telematics, and devices combining computing capabilities, telephone connectivity, and gaming will become more prevalent and drive even stronger growth as the industry progresses.
The above-discussed growth in wireless connectivity will require a correspondingly large amount of activation and device management capacity. However, existing approaches to activating new mobile devices impose significant obstacles to efficiently and rapidly activating new devices. First, existing activation procedures are complex and time consuming, thereby imposing significant inconvenience and expenditure of time in activating new devices. Second, currently, activation and registration of new devices is usually conducted at retail outlets by service personnel affiliated with a particular communications service provider. The above approaches pose obstacles to efficiently integrating the ever expanding array of mobile devices into wireless communication networks. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for activating and managing new mobile devices.